


Opinions

by triste



Category: Hikaru no Go
Genre: Humor, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-11-21
Updated: 2012-11-21
Packaged: 2017-11-19 05:02:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,856
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/569399
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/triste/pseuds/triste
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What makes one shade of pink better than the other?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Opinions

Title: Opinions  
Author: Triste  
Fandom: Hikaru no Go  
Pairing: Akira/Hikaru  
Rating: PG  
Status: Complete  
Disclaimer: Not mine

~~

Once again Shindou had said something to upset Touya. The majority of his insults were born of ignorance or a deep rooted childish instinct which dictated retaliation in the most immature form upon receiving what Touya preferred to call constructive criticism, but while go-related topics were one thing, the matter of fashion was altogether different. It wasn't even Shindou doing his usual 'let's point at Touya and laugh at his newest sweater' routine so much as it being a case of pot calling the kettle black. In other words, Shindou had made fun of Touya for dressing in pink, a "stupid" and "wussy" colour apparently, while wearing the exact same thing himself.

It wasn't the same shade, granted, but it hardly seemed fair for Shindou to snicker and tease just because Touya thought of pastel pink as being subtle and suave and held the belief that his clothing was a reflection of his personality. The same principle could easily be applied to Shindou, in that his personality was as loud and obnoxious as his outfits. The neon pink hoodie he currently had on was nothing less than hideous, with its fluorescent yellow sleeves and the number 5 printed in lime green across the front, but Shindou insisted it was "trendy" and "manly". Touya disagreed.

"What's so bad about my clothes?" Shindou wanted to know. "Nobody else seems to have a problem with them. Nobody else *complains* about them, least of all my mother."

"And why should she?" Touya retorted. "At least this way, she'll never have to worry about you getting hit by a careless driver when you're walking out at night. You should have been renamed from 'one who shines' to 'one who glows in the dark'. It's only fitting."

"Quit talking about me like I'm radioactive," Shindou said. "Anyway, what makes pastel better than neon?"

"Pastel is for refined and sophisticated people such as myself," Touya answered. "Neon is for flashing signs that say 'get your hookers here'."

"Refined is for wine and other alcoholic drinks that give people headaches and makes them feel nauseous," scoffed Shindou. "Just like you."

"*I* make people feel nauseous?"

"You do when you sit opposite a go board from them."

"Like you're one to talk. How many people have you frightened into resignation merely by tapping your fan whenever you get irritated?"

"My fan has nothing to do with this! Don't change the subject!"

They glowered at each other before simultaneously looking away and crossing their arms over their chests in a huff. Their perfectly mirrored body language was only broken when Touya chose to relent somewhat by taking a deep breath and folding his hands neatly on the tabletop. Perhaps sensing and respecting Touya's effort to try and understand rather than mindlessly blurting out whatever was on the tip of his tongue, Shindou subconsciously mimicked his posture, his eyes faintly suspicious but more curious as to what Touya would say next.

"All right," Touya relented, leaning back in his seat and watching as Shindou did the same, "let's try a different approach. Since you seem taken with it, tell me what's so good about neon pink."

"It's really more a case of liking bright colours in general," said Shindou, genuinely thoughtful for once. "Different colours affect people's moods, right? Dark colours are depressing. Light colours are lively and more positive. When you wear dark colours, you feel like you have to be more reserved or whatever, but if you're wearing something lighter, you can just be however you want to be, without having to worry drawing attention to yourself. Your clothes do that automatically without you even having to open your mouth."

"You don't need bright clothing to make people notice you, Shindou," said Touya in all seriousness, fixing his gaze on Shindou's and holding it relentlessly. "You could wear nothing but black and still attract people for what they see inside you rather than what you dress yourself in."

"Black makes me look like I'm in mourning." Shindou grinned. "That and it makes me feel like I'm back in junior high. Bright colours are definitely better. Now then, you tell me. What's so good about pastel pink?"

"I don't think there's anything negative about darker colours," Touya began, honouring Shindou's serious response with one of his own. "I wear a lot of royal blue and deep purple, and they don't make me feel any different to how I would when I'm wearing, well, pastel pink. I agree that bright colours are better at getting attention, but it honestly shouldn't matter what colour you wear, as long as you possess the appropriate mentality. For example, it wouldn't make any kind of difference whether I wore a plain white shirt to a title match or one that was red, green and chequered. As long as you maintain the right kind of mental state, one where nothing matters but you, the go board and the person you're playing, then anything else, like the colours and patterns of clothing, is completely irrelevant."

"I guess that makes sense," agreed Shindou reluctantly. "When you think about it, you can use it to your advantage."

"As part of a strategy you mean?" asked Touya. "Simple though it may be, I will admit that bold colours can actually throw off some opponents, but only the ones who lack experience and common sense. Personally, I wouldn't even dignify it with a reaction."

"You'd just smirk and call me a radioactive hooker," said Shindou making a face. "Then Amano-san would quote you on that in Weekly Go and run some stupid article with 'The Secret Life of Shindou Hikaru' as the title."

"You have many secrets," Touya pointed out casually. "Are they all as colourful as your clothing?"

"Not particularly," breezed Shindou, carefully sidestepping the jibe with a lopsided smile as he parried Touya's underlying inquisitiveness with one of his more traditionally tried and tested insults. "I'd say they're about as bland as your underwear."

"My underwear is not bland," was Touya's automatic response. "Don't write me off as being boring just because my boxer shorts don't have smiley faces or polka dots printed on them."

"Smiley faces are good,” Shindou stated. "I should buy you a pair of shorts with little sulking faces. Then we’d be like the tragedy and comedy figures of the underwear world."

"You're avoiding the subject."

"Maybe I am. Didn't you do the same thing earlier? I guess that makes us even."

With that, they reached a stalemate. Their disagreement had yet to be resolved in a suitable or satisfactory matter. Shindou seemed to realise that fact, and it was possibly what caused him to turn quiet and contemplative all of a sudden.

"To understand something, you must become something," he said slowly. "Or someone, whichever. You know, the way detectives do on TV when they're trying to track down a suspect. In order to catch a monster, you have to think like one."

"I fail to see how this applies to our situation," said Touya, unable to follow Shindou's seemingly random thought processes.

"To put it simply," said Shindou, "I propose a clothing switch. If we really want to understand each other, I'm going to have to wear your clothes and you're going to have to wear mine."

"Me?" Touya pointed at Shindou's offensive hoodie. "Wear *that*?"

"Hey, I'm not exactly relishing the idea of putting on one of your old man sweaters. But, if it ends up having some kind of positive effect on our rivalry..."

That settled things for Touya, and he pushed his chair back with a determined expression. "Let's do it."

He led Shindou in the direction of the men’s bathroom and the two of them emerged ten minutes later, more than a little uncomfortable in their exchanged attire.

"Ichikawa-san," called Shindou, heading towards the counter, "may I have my bag?"

Ichikawa seemed surprised to hear him speaking in a normal tone of voice rather than the usual ear-splitting screeches he made prior to his storming out of the salon, but she obliged by retrieving his backpack only to freeze when she straightened up again to get a proper look at him. Shindou stared back completely unperturbed, but Ichikawa's jaw dropped upon seeing him dressed in the outfit Touya had worn upon walking into the salon two hours earlier. More disturbing still was the way Touya tugged at the strings of the hoodie he wore that couldn't have belonged to anybody other than Shindou, fiddling with them before he noticed Ichikawa's expression.

"It's an experiment," he informed her helpfully. "Shindou and I are trying to understand each other."

"I see," Ichikawa said dubiously, although she sounded like she wasn't entirely sure she actually did or even if she wanted to. Touya waited patiently for her to pass his bag over and then gave her a polite farewell as he and Shindou left the salon together. Shindou kept picking at the sleeves of the sweater he had on until Touya finally had enough and batted Shindou's restless fingers away.

"That sweater was very expensive," he said, ignoring Shindou's disbelieving expression. "I won't forgive you if you ruin it."

"And I won't forgive you if I find myself getting beaten up and mugged while I'm at the train station for looking like a pansy," Shindou shot back.

"It's all for the sake of our rivalry," Touya reminded him, and Shindou grimaced.

"Rivalry. Yeah."

But while Touya had the feeling he'd never get used to wearing anything that could be described as modern or fashionable, he wasn't entirely opposed to the sight of Shindou in the kind of clothing he himself tended to favour. "Honestly," he admitted, "you look rather fetching."

"That's it," said Shindou, his face pale. "I'm leaving before your sweater fetish can get any worse. I'll see you again tomorrow, assuming I’m still alive and in one piece."

"Disrespecting my clothes isn’t going to make understanding me any easier," Touya said coolly. "Besides, *I’ve* never been mugged for dressing the way I do."

"That’s because you have divine protection," Shindou declared. "And because you have a scary scowl." He brought his hands up to form a V shape with his index and middle fingers as he pretended to shoot laser beams from his eyes and made additional little 'bzzt' noises for extra effect. "I can see the headlines now: 'Touya-3dan causes his opponent to keel over from the power of his glare.'"

"'Shindou first dan, victim of Touya-3dan’s attack, is hospitalised but in a stable condition,'" Touya continued dryly. "'His family and friends wish him a speedy recovery.'"

"A comeback!" cried Shindou dramatically. "And a witty one at that. Keep this up and you’re going to make me look like the dumb one in this comedy partnership. Touya has a sense of humour! Who’d have guessed?"

"Just don’t shrink my sweater in the wash," warned Touya. "That’s all I’m asking."

"Sure, sure," said Shindou. "As long as you pray for my safety on the journey back home."

 

End.


End file.
